The Cleveland Cavaliers have been dealing with injuries to star players for most of this season, but for the first time in the James Harden era, all four All-Stars on the team are finally healthy. Cleveland beat the Miami Heat on Friday 149-128, and that performance is just a glimpse of what this team could be if they stay fully healthy.

Dominant Offense

The Cavs have a collection of talent on their team that blends perfectly on the offensive side of the ball. James Harden is an elite pick-and-roll operator and playmaker, Donovan Mitchell is one of the best scorers in the league, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are efficient rolling to the rim, and there’s elite spot up shooters in Sam Merrill, Max Strus, and Jaylon Tyson to play off of those stars. It’s a very small sample size, but in the 48 minutes in which Harden, Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen all share the floor together, the team is posting an offensive rating of 134.7. That means that the Cavaliers are scoring 134.7 points per 100 possessions with all of their stars healthy, which is 18.8 points above league-average. The offense is still very good without one of those bigs on the floor, but the level they can get to with everybody playing is higher than any other team in the NBA.

Elite Defense

Defense is where the impact of having Allen and Mobley on the floor together is felt the most. With just Mobley and no Allen on the floor, the team’s defensive rating is 129.4, which is 13.5 points worse than league average. If they have Allen in with no Mobley, that number goes up to 131.6. The Cavs defense is heavily reliant on having both of those rim protectors on the floor together because of their lack of elite perimeter defenders. When they do have their lineup with Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, and Allen out there together, their defensive rating is an elite 97.0, which is 18.8 points better than the league average. The margin for error on defense is so much wider with both big men on the floor together. That extra layer of rim protection is the difference between the Cavaliers defense being elite or being bad.

End of Season Outlook

At full strength, the Cavaliers are still one of the best teams in the NBA, we just haven’t seen them stay healthy since the James Harden trade. The rest of this regular season is going to be pivotal for Kenny Atkinson to find his playoff rotation, and for all of these guys to build up their chemistry together. The numbers are incredible, but a 48-minute sample size isn’t enough time together to go compete for a championship. As things stand right now, the Cavs seem to be locked in to the fourth seed in the east, which would match them up with the Raptors, Hawks, or 76ers in the first round.

The Pistons have a comfortable 4.5 game lead over Boston for the one seed despite losing their superstar Cade Cunningham for a few weeks, so that’s who would be waiting for Cleveland in the second round. The Celtics are the team that Cleveland struggles with the most in the east, so being able to avoid them until the conference finals is ideal for this team to have its deepest playoff run since 2018. There’s no more lingering injuries between the core four, and Max Strus has been incredible since his return from injury. I know that it’s a very small sample size, but the Cavaliers at full strength would be a nightmare for just about any team to have to deal with in the playoffs.